Labor force rises by 2.5%

Kuwait: The latest labor force statistics in Kuwait issued by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) as of the end of Q2 2024, indicate that the size of labor force in Kuwait increased by 2.5 percent and reached 2.141 million employees excluding household workers (2.089 million workers as of the end of Q2 2023). Adding the household labor -family sector- which is about 786,000 workers, the total would be 2.927 million workers (2.877 million workers as of the end of Q2 2023). Household workers constitute nearly 26.9 percent of total labor force in Kuwait as of the end of Q2 2024 (27.4 percent of the total labor force as of the end of Q2 2023).

The average monthly wage of Kuwaiti male workers in the public sector is KD 1,966 (KD 1,950 end of Q2 2023). The Kuwaiti female wage average is KD 1,387 (KD 1,362 end of Q2 2023), a difference of 41.8 percent in favor of men’s wages. The monthly salary average of non-Kuwaiti males in the public sector scored KD 807 (KD 795 end of Q2 2023). For non-Kuwaiti females, the average wage is KD 724 (KD 705 end of Q2 2023) with a 11.4 percent difference in favor of males. The gender gap is more equitable in the case of non-Kuwaitis. The average monthly wage for Kuwaitis of both genders in the public sector is KD 1,616 (KD 1,598 end of Q2 2023). The same average for non-Kuwaitis is KD 762 (KD 750 end of Q2 2023), with a 112.0 percent difference in favor of Kuwaitis.

The monthly average wage of Kuwaiti males in the private sector is KD 1,648 (KD 1,618 end of Q2 2023), less by -16.2 percent versus that of males in the public sector. The average for Kuwaiti females in the private sector is KD 1,075 (KD 1,045 end of Q2 2023), that is -22.5 percent less than that of their female colleagues in the public sector. Undoubtedly, the government support leads to reduce the gap between Kuwaiti employees in the private and the public sector.

The monthly average wage of non-Kuwaiti males in the private sector is KD 310 (KD 311 end of Q2 2023), this equals 38.4 percent of the average salaries of their non-Kuwaiti colleagues in the public sector. The average monthly wage for non-Kuwaiti females in the private sector is KD 425 (KD 430 end of Q2 2023), which is higher than the average salary of non-Kuwaiti males in the private sector by 37.2 percent, but lower than the average rate of non-Kuwaiti females in the public sector by -41.3 percent.

In case of the overall wage average in both the public and private sectors, the monthly average wage of Kuwaiti males is KD 1,901 (KD 1,884 end of Q2 2023) and KD 1,345 for Kuwaiti females (KD 1,320 end of Q2 2023), with a 41.4 percent difference in favor of males. The monthly average wage for non-Kuwaiti males is KD 323 (KD 324 end of Q2 2023) and KD 481 for non-Kuwaiti females (KD 485 end of Q2 2023), a 49.1 percent difference in favor of females.

The average monthly wage for male and female Kuwaitis in the two sectors is KD 1,576 (KD 1,557 end of Q2 2023) and KD 340 for non-Kuwaitis (KD 343 end of Q2 2023). Note that the figures above do not include household labor that would have a significant downward impact on the non-Kuwaiti wage rates if taken into consideration, nor do they include the governmental support allocations to Kuwaiti workers in the private sector.

The number of Kuwaiti employees in the government sector according to the CSB is 377,500 workers and rising by 0.5 percent (375,700 workers by end of Q2 2023), while the number of Kuwaiti employees in the private sector is 74,100 workers (71,400 workers by end of Q2 2023). The Kuwaiti workforce is distributed between 83.6 percent in the public sector and 16.4 percent in the private sector.

About 49.4 percent of Kuwaitis working in the public sector are university graduates, 4.9 percent have postgraduate degrees, 13.3 percent have diplomas above high school but below university degrees, and 19.8 percent are holders of high school certificates or equivalent. This shows that about 87.4 percent of government employees are holders of high school certificates and above. That is because the main reason of salaries increase is the level of the held certificate, without taking into account the need for it or the authenticity of said certificate.

Household workers

Approximately more than a quarter (26.9 percent) of total expatriate workers in Kuwait are household workers according to the CSB, totaling 786,000 at the end of Q2 2024 (788,000 workers - end of Q2 2023), with a decline by -0.2 percent. That household labor is divided between females 421,000 and males 365,000. The Philippines represent the largest female workers of 165,000 (201,000 workers end of Q2 2023), while Indian male workers take the lead with 245,000 workers (250,000 at end of Q2 2023).

India has the highest share of household workers of both genders constituting 43.9 percent of the total household workers, followed by the Philippines by 21.0 percent. Four nationalities namely India, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh capture 92.6 percent of total household workers out of 10 nationalities. The six other nationalities form the rest, 5.0 percent for the highest (Nepal) and 0.2 percent as the lowest contributor (Pakistan). Three African countries are among the countries exporting household labor, led by Ethiopia at 0.9 percent, then Benin at 0.8 percent and Mali at 0.3 percent.

If the numbers of household workers with other expats categories according to nationalities are merged, Indians would make up 883,000 workers (870,000 workers in the end of Q2 2023) or 30.2 percent of total labor force including Kuwaiti employees and 35.7 percent of total foreign labor force, taking the lead in both cases. The Egyptian labor force follows by a total of 475,000 workers (482,000 workers in the end of Q2 2023), forming 16.2 percent of total labor force and 19.2 percent of total expat labor force.

The Kuwaiti workforce comes third at 452,000 (447,000 workers in the end of Q2 2023) forming 15.4 percent of the total labor force, that percentage would rise if the numbers include the military. According to the data from PACI, the total Kuwaiti workforce as at the end of last June amounted to 506,400 thousand workers, which is substantially different from the figures of the CSB. There isn’t any explanation for the difference in the two figures unless PACI includes military personnel and the unemployed workforce. Moreover, Bangladesh occupies the fourth position in total employment by 268,000 workers (249,000 workers at the end of Q2 2023), about 9.1 percent of total labor force and 10.8 percent of total expat work force. The Philippines moved to fifth place with a total of 228,000 workers (269,000 workers in the end of Q2 2023), making up 7.8 percent of total labor force and 9.2 percent of total expat workers.